Friday, December 31, 2021

Irish Bred Pub

Downtown Montgomery, Alabama was a pretty dead place the week leading up to Christmas, but the few restaurants that were open did not disappoint.  Irish Bred Pub, Tower Taproom, Wintzell's Oyster House, and Dreamland BBQ all delivered delicious meals.  A monster Rueben sandwich at Irish Bred, combined with the Guinness shown below, was the best of the best.




Thursday, December 30, 2021

Killing AutoCorrect

It's a wonder that so many people curse autocorrect on their smartphones but don't take the time to simply turn it off.  These two links will take you through step-by-step instructions to kill it.  Why you're at it, look at the other options and see if they are adding some bane (i.e. a source of persistent annoyance) to your existence.





Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Live TV Streaming Channel Tool

This handy tool from Clark Howard allows cord-cutters, or would-be cord-cutters, to evaluate their options.  You just type in those channels that you want and it presents a list with the cheapest options first and each network will have either a checkmark or slashed circle to tell you if it's included or not.  Given that sports are our must-have entertainment, YouTubeTV was an easy pick for us.




Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Glass Screen Protector

I was more than a little surprised when an assistant at the Apple store directed me to this way less expensive (<$9) screen protector at Amazon over their $50 alternative.  This isn't one of those cheap plastic covers, but real glass.  You just clean and dry your iPhone screen, peel off the cover on the back of the glass, align the glass on your screen, and lay it in place.  A little tap of the finger in the middle of the glass and it appears to melt into your phone.  I had a couple of little spots where it initially didn't completely bond, but by the next day they were gone.  This link includes some videos to explain it better than I can.  Make sure you buy the version specific to your model phone.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H2V5YLH



Friday, December 17, 2021

The Bar & Bistro

The newly opened Bar & Bistro (11/15/2021) is located at 32 Webster Street in Downtown Dayton in the Top of the Market space.  They offer a diverse menu and craft cocktails at a price lower than I've seen anywhere else.  This is a great addition to the downtown foodie scene and I suggest you check it out before it becomes too popular.  More information and the menu are at this link.




Thursday, December 16, 2021

Bucket Head

When a real-life plumber brings a wet/dry vacuum into your home, you obviously want to check out what they use.  To my surprise, this Bucket Head powerhead, which attaches to the top of an inexpensive, five-gallon Home Depot bucket, was equally inexpensive at $30.  That's way cheaper than the one I just bought and will be my next one.  The plumber's other rule was to have one for dry pickups and one for wet pickups, not try to switch back and forth.  Another suggestion I plan to follow.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bucket-Head-5-Gal-1-75-Peak-HP-Wet-Dry-Shop-Vacuum-Powerhead-with-Filter-Bag-and-Hose-compatible-with-5-Gal-Homer-Bucket-BH0100/202017218



Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Nugget

The Nugget play couch comes in four pieces, base, cushion, and two triangle pillows, and can be configured as anything from a fort to a sofa.  It is perfect for small children, allowing them to use their imaginations, and toddlers, as they learn to scoot around.  For an adult, it can be a nice addition to their home workout room, bring a little comfort to a hard floor.  The Pinterest link below shows a number of ways the Nugget can be arranged.

Shout out to Emma for this cool idea!




Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Important Display Message

The most current iOS upgrade turned on a feature to tell you if a part was detected that the phone could not verify as a genuine Apple part.  Since this iPhone 11 had its cracked display replaced at Batteries+Bulbs a while back, I guess they don't use genuine Apple parts.  That might be more important to some and less to others, and while it's nice that Apple is letting you know in case you didn't know, it's also self-serving as they want you to have your phone serviced at one of their stores.

Regardless of the merits of the above, the wrong thing Apple did was make this notification stick around without an option to dismiss it.  It might sound a bit picky, but we're annoyed with those red bubble counts hanging around as shown on the Settings app icon on the righthand picture below.  Fortunately, it should go away in 15 days, trusting the ZDNET article at the link below.






Friday, December 10, 2021

Knives Up

Yet another example of me doing things wrong for my whole life was recently brought to my attention.  I have always stored my knives, those that go in the vertical slots, with the sharp edge on the bottom, not ever thinking as I slid the knives into place that I was dragging them against the wood.  Guess what that does?  Yep, dulls them.  Duh!  They are now sharp-side up.  A few more tips are listed at the link below.

Big shout out to Deborah K. for this sharp tip!

https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/how-to-store-your-knives-the-right-way


 

Thursday, December 9, 2021

Bushnell Wingman

If you're still looking for a Christmas gift for your music-loving, distance-impaired golfer, the Bushnell Wingman will solve both.  It's a high-quality Bluetooth speaker that at a push of a button delivers audible front, center, and back distances on tens of thousands of golf courses.  It's held to the cart with magnets, making mounting and dismounting a snap.  What will they think of next?




Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Cooluli

Our B&B room in Saint Augustine, Florida came with a Cooluli tabletop mini-fridge.  It was perfect for keeping a few bottles of water chilled without a large footprint.  The Classic series, shown below, comes in three different sizes (4, 10, and 15 liters), and there are a number of other models, none cooler (pun intended) than the two retro Coca-Cola versions, which you can see at the link below.   

https://cooluli.com/collections/all-products/coca-cola-series



Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Market Square

Last Saturday was a beautiful day to visit the Market Square area in downtown Pittsburgh (or "dahntahn" in Pittsburghese).  Busy day with the Pitt Panthers taking on Wake Forest for the ACC football title, followed Sunday with a home game for the Steelers against their rival, the Baltimore Ravens (or the dirty birds as I like to call them).  The skaters were out in force, circling the monstrous Christmas tree seen below.  Not shown are all the people, like me, that hold on to the railing and drag themselves around the rink.

https://www.marketsquarepgh.com


 

Monday, December 6, 2021

Opening And Closing Days

As pictured below from the Orchid Island Golf Club in Vero Beach, Florida, ladies' opening day was October 28, followed by the men's opener the next day.  Compare that with Walnut Grove Country Club in Dayton, Ohio, which had their ladies' closing day on October 1st and their men's closer on October 12th, and the message is clear.  The time to migrate south for the winter is right in the middle of October.  When one door is closed, another one opens.



Friday, December 3, 2021

A Quart

We all know that a quarter is 25 cents or a quarter of a dollar, but it took 66 years for me to understand, thanks to my son-in-law, that a quart, like milk, is one-fourth of a gallon and that's why it's called a quart.  Short for "quarter", get it?  I am such a dope.

Big shout out to Rodney for opening my eyes!





Thursday, December 2, 2021

At Journey's End

Our lodging at a recent stay in downtown St. Augustine, Florida was "At Journey's End", an adorable, and reasonably priced, B&B a few blocks walk to all the area has to offer.  The owners, Mike and Robin, were very helpful in getting us settled in and offering advice on new restaurants and activities.  The breakfasts, or brunches as Robin likes better, were over-the-top delicious.  A parking space was available in the back, a welcome amenity in a parking-constrained area.  

https://atjourneysend.com


 

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Transition Strips

After the new carpet on the stairs was installed, it was up to me to add the transition strips to complete the project.  After a lot of thinking on how best to get the tightest seam, I decided to cut the track to the width I needed, cut 1-foot pieces of T-moulding and end-molding, and pushed them on the middle of the track.  I then pushed that firmly against the carpet and marked the holes with a Sharpie.  I drilled the pilot holes and screwed down the track, as seen in the first picture below.  I cut the molding to the proper width and pushed them into the track, shown in the second picture.  Totally happy with how it turned out.